Treatment of artificial silk filaments



Patented May 5, 1936 UNITED STATES TREATMENT OF ARTIFICIAL SILKFILAMENTS Aleidus G. Bouhuys, Enka, N. 0., .assignor to American EnkaCorporation, Enka, corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application May18, 1934. Serial No. 726,399

,2 Claims.

This invention relates to treating artificial silk filaments duringtheir process of manufacture and more specifically relates to treatingfilaments for use in crepe effect fabrics.

In the ordinary process of manufacturing artificial silk filaments whichare to be employed in crepe fabrics it has been the practice in the pastto subject the filaments to the usual treating steps consisting ofwashing the spun filaments,

desulphurizing, and subsequently drying, twisting (this may be done atthe time of the spinning operation), humidifying, reeling into skeins,bleaching the skeins, drying the skeins and grading and packing. Thepackages of filaments or yarn, as they will hereinafter be designated,in this form were shipped tothe crepe fabric manufacturers. It was thennecessary for the consumer to treat the skeins with various sizingagents, straighten out the skeins, dry, wind, and crepe twist.

It is readily seen that such a. procedure involves quite a number ofexpensive, lengthy and tedious operations. However, it is known that inorder to prepare yarn for crepe twisting it is first necessary toimpregnate the yarn with certain kinds of sizing materials and whenemploying the above outlined procedure, that is, including the skeiningstep, the other operations were necessary.

Another attempted process for manufacturing crepe fabrics was one inwhich the desulphurizing step was omitted, the idea being to allow thesulphur to remain in the yarn to act as the sizing agent. Such a method,however, was found to be very impractical and in fact could not becarried out with any degree of success. The reason for this being thatit was necessary to remove the sulphur after having been made intofabric form, and in order to do this the fabric had to be treated withan alkaline reagent which materially affected the feel of the finishedproduct.

It is an object of the present invention to produce an improved crepeeffect fabric in which several of the above mentioned steps have beeneliminated.

It is a further object of the invention to apply sizing and lubricatingmaterials to the yarn immediately after spinning and washing and priorto shipment. v

The invention still further contemplates processing freshly spun yarnwhile it is still on the spinning spool wherein the preparation of theyarn for creping is made an integral part of the manufacturing process,the completed yarn package then being ready for immediate use in thecrepe twisting machines.

According to the present invention the freshly spun artificial silk iscollected on foraminated spools or bobbins and the like, and thereafterwashed, desulphurized and bleached (if desired) while on the spools. Thespool supported yarn packages are then impregnated with suitable sizingand lubricating :agents. This may be accomplished by either :vacuum orpressure control and the packages so treated are dried. The yarnpackages are rewound in the form of cones and the like in untwisted oronly slightly twisted form, and are now in condition to be transferredto the crepe twisting machines to be twisted with a left and right handhigh twist according to the usual procedure. Fabrics woven from yarnprocessed in the above stated manner possess a very rich feel and pebblethat is highly satisfactory in the industry.

The sizing and lubricating agents which are employed, are especiallyadaptable to the present invention and are composed of an oil, a starchsize or glue, and a softener. The oil serves the purpose of lubricatingthe thread in the winding and twisting operations and also performs thefunction of regulating the creping of the fabric when moistened. Thestarch or glue acts to set the twist upon the completion of the crepetwisting operation and is instrumental in creating the pebble. Thesoftener improves the feel of the finished goods and may if desired beincorporated in the oil. These various agents are applied to the yarn inone operation.

Several examples of sizing compositions which have been found especiallyadaptable in carrying out the present invention are as follows:

Percent Percent Sulfonated cocoanut oil 3. 8 Llmlts 1 -l Starch .85Limits 0.1 4 Water 35 Sulionated neats-foot oil 3. 8 Limits 1 10Gelatine 1.0 Limits 0.1 4 Sulionated wax 3 Sulfonated cocoanut oil. 3. 7Limits 1 l0 Gelatine 9 Limits 25- 4 Water 95.4

Mineral oil 3.6 Limits 1 6 Soaps and emulsifiers 2.4 SOlPS and emulsi- 6ers Gelatine 0.6 Gelatine 1 4.

Sulfonated al coholsor deriva- Limits 1 8 Gelatine Gelatine l 4 WaterMineral oil 3.9 Limits 1 4.2 Soaps and emulsifiers 1. Soaps andemulsiers.. .5 4.0 Mineral oil sulphonate 6 Limits. 2 2. 0 Gclatine .6Gelatine. 1 4.0 Water 93.4

It can be seen that several distinct advantages are realized by thepresent invention. The customary operations of twisting, humidifyingskeining, and further drying at the time of manufacture, are eliminated.The time of manufacture and the expense involved is therefore decreased.By omitting several handling steps, injury to the filaments is lessened.In view of the fact that the skeining operation is omitted,

twisting of the filaments is not necessary until the crepe twist isapplied at the consumers. The lubricating materials incorporated in thesizing agents which have been applied to the yarn during the manufacturethereof act as a protective medium for subsequent handling. Theconsumers duties have been materially cut down in view of the fact thatthe sizing has previously been applied to the yarn and it is thereforeonly necessary for the consumer to perform the crepe twisting prior tomanufacturing the fabric.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A process for preparing artificial silk filaments and the like forcrepe effect fabrics according to the wet spinning method whichcomprises winding freshly spun untwisted filaments onto foraminatedbobbins, washing and desulphurizing the filaments While supporting themon the said bobbins, and directly treating the said filaments, withoutunwinding the same, with a-sizing agent containing a substance of theclass consisting of starch, glue and gelatine and having the property ofmaintaining a set within the filaments after the high twisting operationincident to the manufacture of crepe efiect fabrics.

2. A process of manufacturing crepe effect fabrics from artificial silkfilaments and the like which comprises winding freshly spun untwistedfilaments onto foraminated bobbins, washing and desulphurizing thefilaments while supporting them on the said bobbins, directly treatingthe said filaments without unwinding the same with a sizing agent havingthe property of maintaining a set therein, and finally setting a hightwist in the filaments and manufacturing crepe effect fabrics therefrom.

ALEIDUS G. BOUHUYS.

